Numerous types of nail polishes are sold commercially. Liquid nail polish formulations typically contain a film former, usually nitrocellulose, a modifying resin such as toluene-sulfonamide-formaldehyde resin, a plasticizer, such as comphor, dibutylphthalate, etc. and one or more solvents such as toluol, lower aliphatic alcohols or acetates, etc. In addition, these formulations usually contain coloring agents and fragrances.
There are a number of desirable properties in nail polish compositions. In particular, a nail polish should dry and harden quickly, apply easily, be well adherent, glossy, waterproof and suitably colored, wear well, be elastic, resist chipping, peeling and abrasion for a reasonable period of time, and be dermatologically innocuous.
One important property of a nail polish, which is addressed by the present invention, is the ability for a coating to dry rapidly once applied to a human nail since in applying nail polish to nails, multiple coatings are typically applied to improve coloring, gloss, wear resistance, etc. This coating process is time consuming since the first coating of nail polish must be dry before a subsequent coating can be applied to avoid smudging and damage to the first coating, and the average drying time for a coating of conventional nail polish is about five minutes. That is, five minutes must elapse between coating applications to prevent damage to a previous coating. Thus, the total time for completing the nail polishing process using conventional compositions can be in the order of 15 minutes or more.